Profile
Centrepiece was formed in 1997 creating an opportunity for designer-makers working in the Jewellery Quarter to showcase their work to the Birmingham public.
The first Christmas show at Symphony Hall lasted four days and had ten exhibitors. The show was very well received and through negotiations with Symphony Hall it was decided to make this an annual event. The initial success of this venture has been built on over the past eleven years with the membership of Centrepiece growing and the show now lasting up to five weeks.
Each year Centrepiece offers a variety of guest exhibitors the opportunity to participate. For our 10th anniversary in 2007 we had the additional venue of the newly refurbished Town Hall, which allowed us to offer twelve new young designers the chance to show with Centrepiece.
This year we have a collaborative project at the Town Hall venue between seven of our members and six glass makers from the West Midlands. They are working together to create new designs combining jewellery and glass. At Symphony Hall we are showcasing the work of six new young designers from the Design Space project alongside our more established makers.
Our Private View event has recently included a catwalk show, which has proved to be very popular. This year we are again collaborating with Matthew Boulton College setting the first year fashion students’ “little black dress” project as a competition with prize money of £500 to be shared among the three winners. The resulting garments will be modelled with the jewellery .Our compere this year is Colin Buchannan of Dalziel and Pascoe fame and he is donating his fee to the Children’s Liver foundation charity.
The blossoming of Centrepiece has come about through the hard work and commitment of our members and with the assistance of the regional support agencies.
We have a long standing relationship with the Assay office; they have consistently supported us since the beginning.
Through the years we have received support and funding from Groundwork, Birmingham City Council Economic Development, Business Link, Brilliantly Birmingham, the Jewellery Quarter Regeneration Partnership, Symphony Hall and Town Hall, Birmingham City University, Net Infinity and Advantage West Midlands.
Our relationship with these partners has been essential for our growth and continued success.
We are passionate about showing the work of contemporary jewellery designer makers to a wide audience and raising awareness of the wealth of talent which exists within the Jewellery Quarter and the West Midlands as a whole.
